I LOVE a good story! So much so, I get involved in a movie or TV series very deeply. I will talk to the screen, saying something in response to something that was said in the movie. In TV series that I have loved, I start to feel as if I'm a part of the show. I can readily identify with the characters and even come to care about them. And when a series comes to an end and I watch the final episode that will ever be made, I have often experienced a sense of loss, as if I have a good friend who left or passed away.
Oh sure, I know that they aren't real, but to me, that is a sign of a "good" story. One that pulls you into it; makes you readily identify with the characters and makes you feel that you are a part of the story. THAT is a good story!
The Gospel has been called "The Greatest Story Ever Told", but it is not just a story. It is not a fictional account of something. It is the actual telling of what Jesus came to the earth to do... to save mankind from our sins.
Unlike fictional characters in the books I've read or movies I've seen, Jesus readily identifies with you; the reader, hearer or viewer of His story. He came and was tempted by sin in every way that you and I are; yet He did not sin. He is well aware of the struggles we have with the sin in our lives and knows exactly how it feels to struggle with the temptation of sin.
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God will not allow us to be tempted more than we are able to stand. The problem is, we often give in to the temptation long before we have reached that point of where our resistance prevails. We only seem to struggle with our sin after we have committed it, rather than struggle with the temptation of it.
As you go through these struggles, turn to Jesus and ask for His help. We do not have to give into temptations of sin. We can equally choose not to sin as much as we can choose to sin. It is a struggle, indeed, but God will always provide a way out. We need only to run to Him when we are tempted.
